Rotary control knob



Feb. 14, 1967 R. VALENTI 3,303,717

ROTARY CONTROL KNOB Filed Jan. 15, 1965 INVENTOR. RICHARD L. VALENTI ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,303,717 ROTARY CONTROL KNOB Richard L. Valenti, Plainville, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Jan. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 425,764 2 Claims. (Cl. 74-553) The present invention relates to rotary control knobs suitable for use with a variety of devices requiring rotary adjustment, such as otentiometers, rotary electric switches and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rotary control knob which may be quickly and easily mounted on a control panel or. other wall member.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary control knob adapted to be independently supported in an opening in a control panel or other wall member.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a rotary control knob which may be easily mounted in and removed from an opening in a wall member without regard to the presence or absence of the control device associated with the knob.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will 'be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a control knob embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the control knob shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the right in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another end view of the control knob as viewed from the left in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along the line 44 of FIG. 3, and shows the control knob mounted in an opening in a Wall member.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the drawing, the rotary control knob generally designated by the numeral is arranged to be rotatably mounted in a circular opening 12 formed in a control panel or other wall member 14. The control knob 10 is preferably formed as an integral part made of a suitable plastic material, such as nylon, and includes a handle or tab 16 extending from one end thereof and an oppositely extending circular skirt 18 arranged to project through and be rotata'bly supported in the opening 12, to form a journal. For the purpose of securing control knob 10 in its mounted position, the skirt 18 is provided with a pair of circumferential generally circular shoulders or flanges 20, 22 extending outwardly from the skirt and spaced apart so as to engage the opposite surfaces of the wall member 14.

Rotary motion of the knob 10 is transmitted to the rotary switch or other device with which it is associated by a drive shaft or shank 24 projecting beyond the end of the skirt 18 and located along its axis of rotation. Although the device to be actuated .or positioned by the knob 10 is not illustrated in the drawing, it will be understood that it is mounted in a suitable manner to the left of wall 14 as viewed in FIG. 4 and that it is provided with a rotatable collar or shaft shaped so as to be engageable with the end of the drive shaft 24 for which purpose the shaft 24 is formed to provide four angularly spaced axially extending key elements which are axially tapered at their inner ends to facilitate inserting the shaft 24 in the associated device as the knob is installed on the wall member 14.

The control knob 10 is mounted on the wall member 14 by first inserting the skirt 18 into the opening 12 and by forcing it through the opening from right to left as viewed in FIG. 4. To facilitate movement of the shoulder 20 througfh the opening 12 the skirt 18 is provided with a pair of longitudinal open-ended slots 26, 28 on diametrically opposite sides of the skirt so as to form oppositely disposed skirt segments 30, 32. In order to permit the control knob 10 to 'be inserted in the opening 12 without the aid of special tools the end of the skirt 18 is beveled to form a canrming surface 34 shaped so as to cooperate with the edges of opening 12 in flexing the skirt segments 30* and 32 toward each other as the skirt is pressed through the opening.

Assembly of the knob 10 in its operative position on the wall member 14 is accomplished by simply placing the carnming surface 34 in contact with the outer edge of the opening 12 and pressing the knob 10 with suflicient force to flex the skirt segments 30 and 32 sufficiently to permit the shoulder 20 to pass through the opening 12. When the shoulder 20 clears the opening the skirt 18 resumes its original shape and the knob 10 is secured in place by virtue of the overlapping engagement of the shoulder 20 with the adjacent surface of the wall member 14. If it is desired to remove the control knob 10 from the wall member 14, it is merely necessary to press the end portions of the skirt segments 30 and 32 together sufficiently to disengage the shoulder 20 from the edge of the wall member surrounding the opening 12 and then press the control knob outwardly through the opening 12.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a rotary control knob which may be inexpensively manufactured, easily mounted on a control panel or the like, securely held in place while in use and easily removed from the control panel should this prove to be necessary.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure a'bove described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A control knob adapted to be rotatably mounted in a circular opening in a wall member for angular adjustment of an associated device mounted inwardly thereof, comprising a body portion with an outer generally annular flange part, a generally annular skirt part projecting inwardly from said outer flange part for receipt within said opening, and an axially extending handle part projecting outwardly of the outer flange part for manual angular adjustment of the knob; and a shank portion projecting inwardly from the outer flange part coaxially within the skirt .part with means insertable within the associated device for'angular adjustment thereof; the skirt part having a plurality of annularly arranged inwardly resilient skirt segments forming cylindrical journal elements coaxial with the shank portion in the unstressed condition thereof for rotatably supporting the knob within the opening, the skirt segments having at their inner ends annularly arranged radially outwardly projecting inner flange elements opposite said outer flange part for axially retaining the knob within the opening while at the same time permitting the knob to be rotatably supported with the journal elements for angular adjustment of said associated device.

2. A control knob adapted to be-rotatably mounted in a circular opening in a wall member for angular adjustment of an associated device mounted inwardly thereof, comprising an integrally molded body portion with a circular flange part, a generally annular skirt part projecting inwardlyfrorn and coaxial with said circular flange part for receipt within said opening, and an axially extending handle ta'b part projecting outwardly from the circular [flange part for manual angular adjustment of the knob;

ment thereof; the skirt part having two annularly arranged inwardly resilient skirt segrnents forming cylindrical journal elements coaxial with the shank portion in the unstressed condition thereof for rotatably supporting the knob within the opening, the skirt segments having at their inner ends annularly arranged radially outwardly projecting inner flange elements opposite to said outer circular flange for axially retaining the knob within the opening while at the same time permitting the knob to be rotatably supported with the journal elements for angular adjustment of said associated device.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 2,649,884 9/ 1953 Westover 85-80 2,95 6,605 10/ 1960 Rapata 85--8O 3,010,743 11/ 196-1 Bengtson 74553 3,231,300 1/-1966 Moroney 85-80 FRED C. MATTERN, ]R., Primary Examiner.

W. S. RATLIFF, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CONTROL KNOB ADAPTED TO BE ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN A CIRCULAR OPENING IN A WALL MEMBER FOR ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT OF AN ASSOCIATED DEVICE MOUNTED INWARDLY THEREOF, COMPRISING A BODY PORTION WITH AN OUTER GENERALLY ANNULAR FLANGE PART, A GENERALLY ANNULAR SKIRT PART PROJECTING INWARDLY FROM SAID OUTER FLANGE PART FOR RECEIPT WITHIN SAID OPENING, AND AN AXIALLY EXTENDING HANDLE PART PROJECTING OUTWARDLY OF THE OUTER FLANGE PART FOR MANUAL ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT OF THE KNOB; AND A SHANK PORTION PROJECTING INWARDLY FROM THE OUTER FLANGE PART COAXIALLY WITHIN THE SKIRT PART WITH MEANS INSERTABLE WITHIN THE ASSOCIATED DEVICE FOR ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT THEREOF; THE SKIRT PART HAVING A PLURALITY OF ANNULARLY ARRANGED INWARDLY RESILIENT SKIRT SEGMENTS FORMING CYLINDRICAL JOURNAL ELEMENTS COAXIAL WITH THE SHANK PORTION IN THE UNSTRESSED CONDITION THEREOF FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING THE KNOB WITHIN THE OPENING, THE SKIRT SEGMENTS HAVING AT THEIR INNER ENDS ANNULARLY ARRANGED RADIALLY OUTWARDLY PROJECTING INNER FLANGE ELEMENTS OPPOSITE SAID OUTER FLANGE PART FOR AXIALLY RETAINING THE KNOB WITHIN THE OPENING WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PERMITTING THE KNOB TO BE ROTATABLY SUPPORTED WITH THE JOURNAL ELEMENTS FOR ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT OF SAID ASSOCIATED DEVICE. 